Depths of Hazur
A campaign based around Hazur, a Republic set in the Shining Sea. Characters: * Constance Grimwood * Nathaniel D'Alessio * Elio Lucianos Background Hazur has seen an unexpected golden age as the leaders of the three factions, August Julianos, Meliria Lucianos and Galaea Calianos has agreed to a peace agreement inbetween the three factions of Hazur. A large artifact has just been found in the mines of Hazur in a massive underground ruin that has recently been escavated by the miners. It has been brought up to decorate the streets of Hazur itself, and though some people have worried about the consequences, nothing has been done to stop it. Though the city of Hazur has turned surprisingly docile on the political side, a new string of thefts has harmed the city by a band led by Constance Grimwood, daughter of the rich bank family Grimwood. Originally just a band of youths led by the bored Constance, it has turned into a smaller band of more experienced thieves and "profiteers" known as The Seraphim that steals for both fun and as a job by certain merchant families. Nataniel D'Alessio, a half-elven youth has recently joined The Seraphim. Though new to the band, he has already played an essential role in the few jobs he has been a part of. His skills in magically charming and tricking people has proven to be invaluable and he has become one of the most important people in her team. Though what his newfound friends don't know, is the fact his skills is coming from the Archfey Adrielle, and he is in a soulbinding contract with her. Infact he became a part of the band only because she demanded he would do so. Elio Lucianos is the last person to join her thieving band. Though he is yet to actually partake in a job with the team, he is a member of the Dreaille Monastery, a monastery known for its dangerously skilled monks. Sent out by his elders on the search for a stolen artifact, he has ironically ended up working with the thieving band of Constance Grimwood to be able to search the most effectively for the lost artifact. The Seraphim has been hired by an unknown patron, to steal a statuette from the Malizia family. Story Arc 01 Session 01 A small party consisting of Constance, Nathaniel and Elio infiltrates the old Malizia mansion, in search of a statuette they were hired to find, backed up by Aren. Beronico had already infiltrated the mansion earlier, and had searched through most of the open spaces. Despite his search, he had been unable to find the statuette. Breaking into the mansion and using sleep darts to take out several guards quickly led the small party into an old study. Finding a hidden passage that led them underground, they confronted a Spectator, a small Beholder, that acted as guardian for the vault they assumed to hold the statuette they were looking for. After a short intense combat, the party managed to take out the guardian and retrieve the statuette, which looked like a young woman in battle regalia, though there was a weird abnormality with the hand of the statuette. They brought back the statuette to the patron, who ended up being a massive dark cloaked man who handed them a chunk of money as promised. Elio in particular noted the dark aura surrounding the man. Session 02 Woken up by her father who stormed into her room, Constance was sent of to meet a friend of his to find a missing shipment. With ArenMilena Centoreand Beronico out of headquarters, Constance brought Elio and Nathaniel along. On her way out, Constance was stopped by Milena who told her she wanted to talk about a group of cultists she had come across, wrecking havoc in the poorer districts in the nothern part of the city of Hazur. At one of the eastern gates of Hazur, the group met a woman who introduced herself as Kynth. Though she came across a bit airheaded and nervous, she talked to the other members of the group as they traveled eastwards. They eventually came across the tracks leading into the forest, of the missing caravan. Finding the remains of the cart scattered across the forest floor, the couriers were strangely missing, as was any sort of wares they might've brought. Kynth, attracted by strange lights on a mountain top nearby, started running in that direction, followed by the rest of group who wasn't sure what to make out of it. As they closed in, they saw two Couatls fixed in a mating ritual, with an egg floating inbetween them. As the mating ritual was coming to an end, suddenly a massive black dragon attacked the two Couatls and killed them. The group was at first about to flee the massive dragon, Elio with the egg in his hands, only to find Kynth turning into a massive bronze dragon herself, enraged by this unneeded violence towards the peaceful Couatls. After a long battle between the Black Dragon and Kynth with the rest of the group on her back, as they flew westwards back towards Hazur. As they got closer to Hazur, the weather itself seemed to impede the Black Dragon and aid the group. After almost tearing the wings of the Black Dragon's back, Kynth forced the dragon to land. Turning around, it spewed its poisonous breath at the group, wounding Nathaniel. Kynth returned with a breath attack of her own, with lightning ripping apart the whole area, followed by a massive thunderbolt from the skies. The Black Dragon was no more. Reintroducing herself as Kyntheri, a Bronze Dragon allied to the Republic of Hazur, she told the group about the cultists, and that she had allies in Hazur who was already fighting the cultists. The group parted ways, Constance and Elio helping Nathaniel back to the city. Stopping at a temple to Lliira, Nathaniel had his wounds cured. At the temple Constance noticed a man who seemed different than the other priests residing there, and started conversing with the man. To her surprise, he was one of the allies Kyntheri had already mentioned earlier. Introducing himself as Traros Greensleeves, a Paladin of the Golden Order, he agreed to let Constance join an attack they were making on the cultists later that night. Session 03 Meeting the leader of the Golden Order in Hazur, Nerislynn Swordhand, the group initiated the attack on the cultists headquarters. Leading the attack, Nerislynn quickly decimated the guards standing by the entrance, who were practically teenagers. A massive dispute between Nerislynn and Constance ensued, about the murder of children. With Aren backing her up, Constance stared down the older Paladin. Fighting their way further into the headquarters of the cult, they had a large group of cultists attacking them, though most of them were almost suicidal in their lack of any sort of combat experience or attempts to defend themselves. After a relatively short fight compared to the numbers involved, the group pushed their way into the main chamber of the headquarters, coming across several cultists chanting as a kid stood in their midst with one of the couriers from the missing caravan on his knees. Cutting his throat, the kid was hysterical as the group attacked the leaders of the cult. Securing the kid and one of the other chanting cultists, the group killed the rest. As they were about to start asking them questions, they heard a ruckus by the door, and rushed out to fight any remaining cultists. As they rushed out, they heard two small sounds, and turned around to find both the kid and remaining cultist dying of poisonous darts. Having missed a small hole in the wall, they broke their way through, to find a way leading into the sewers of Hazur. Not taking the risk of getting lost down there, the group decided that was the end of their current fight against the cultists. Surprisingly enough, Nerislynn showed a more relaxed side of herself, and thanked Constance for her help. Leaving on relatively good notes, the two groups split apart. Elio picked up a badge with a Black Dragon Claw on it, from one of the dead cultists, on his way out. Session 04 Specially invited by Baldomero De Argentiere, the young son of the recently deceased Patron of the De Argentiere family and now the new head, to a masquerade ball at his place, Constance brought Nathaniel and found a set of outfits for the two of them. Unable to locate Elio, and with Aren, Milena Centore and Beronico out, it was only the two of them and Alyniss currently at Feather's Nest. On her way out, she was also met by one of the tailors who said a strange man had left a letter for Constance, specifically sent to The Seraphim, telling her to meet the person at an inn in Twilight Street, close to their headquarters. Arriving at the masquerade ball by a carriage, they found the whole thing to be a disappointing experience, despite Baldomero trying to work up the party. Splitting apart, they talked to several of the members of the party, but couldn't find anything interesting of note. Though they did notice that the guards seemed at edge about not letting anyone out of their sight. Getting bored of the whole party, Constance and Nathaniel snuck further into the mansion and started checking it out. As they descended futher down, they came across a small dungeon where the two last members of the missing caravan was locked up. Enraged by this, Constance went back upstairs with Nathaniel, and the two of them tried to leave the party with Alyniss, but were stopped by the De Argentiere guards. Grabbing and holding Baldomero hostage, the group started forcing their way out of the mansion. Taken by surprise by one of the De Argentiere guards, Constance lost her grip on Baldomero, but the group managed to flee. Going back to the Grimwood mansion, Constance talked to her father about the experience. Her father gathered a group of mercenaries to attack the De Argentiere mansion, while Constance, Aren and Nathaniel made their way through the mansion and freed the two couriers locked up in the dungeon. Sending Aren to make sure the couriers got out safely, Constance and Nathaniel assassinated Baldomero. The night after, Aren, Constance and Nathaniel went to meet the one who had sent them a letter. To their shock, August II himself met them, and in all practicality forced them into working for him. Though they were uncomfortable under the eyes of the Exarch, he seemed benevolent. His first task for them, was to check the Oneto family mansion, still left in ruins several years after he massacred the family. Session 05 Constance, Elio and Nathaniel left to check out the Oneto mansion the night after. A lot of things seemed amiss as they entered the area. Both windows and doors seemed to open and close on their own, and the mansion was still stained with blood from the massacre that happened half a decade ago. After searching the mansion from top to bottom, the group found a small path that seemed to lead underground, an excavated area. After descending for what seemed like hours, they finally came across a crossroads. Nathaniel sent out his pseudodragon, Glint, and the small spirit came across several dead workers, most likely the ones excavating. The group went further down the only path that wasn't blocked in any way. After some minutes, they had to go cross a bridge over a dark chasm. On the other side, they started finding flowers. As they went further, the road suddenly changed into a massive crater, and the road further ahead was broken all the way to a massive temple at the end of it. As they entered, they came across texts written on the walls, barely readable. Constance translated them, and they painted a bleak picture of an ancient God gone mad, murdering his followers. * Origins p.1 * Origins p.2 * Apocalypse p.1 * Apocalypse p.2 Suddenly appearing out of an old set of bones under one of the texts, a wraith assaulted Elio and seemed to possess him. In a vision, Elio saw through the eyes of the ancient, as the insane God attacked the temple and massacred everyone in it, both those allied to him and not. In a second vision, Elio saw a dark cloaked man, reminiscent of the one they had fetched the statuette for, enter the temple and picking up a dark sword from the altar in the middle of the temple, and his aura darkening because of it. On his way out, he ripped apart the spirits who roamed the temple, all except the one possessing Elio. In a third vision, Elio saw another man enter the temple, only to have the spirits make him go mad. In a final vision, Elio saw what happened beforehand of the first vision, though this time there was a lady who played a central role in talking to the different people attending the temple. At the same time as Elio experienced these visions, Constance and Nathaniel experienced faded ghost visions of the first vision repeating itself, and the temple tearing itself apart. It was as if time and space was falling apart in the temple. Nathaniel had to call upon his patron, the lady Adrielle, to protect himself from the possessed Elio. The lady not only stopped Elio by removing the possession, but also stopped the visions of the insane ancient God. Though she seemed to correct the time and space for the moment she was there, it once again fell apart after she left, and the group was in the end forced to leave after it seemed like the ancient God was becoming real in their own timeline. After a rapid escape, the group watched as the space around the ancient temple fell apart, and seemed to stop existing. On their way out, they noted they never passed any crossroads, and they seemed to have been sent back to the time just before they entered the mansion. However, the aura and area seemed to have gotten better. The malevolent aura surrounding the mansion was gone, and so was the blood that had filled the mansion. After reporting back to August II, Constance was told to go to the Lucianos mansion and save Meliria Lucianos from assassins. Session 06 Constance, Nathaniel and Elio entered the Lucianos mansion ground, only to find it deserted. After repeatedly being attacked by fireballs and traps, the group managed to force their way into the mansion. A group of Genasis, the assassins, repeatedly tried to stop them as they got further into the mansion, but the group managed to get past their traps and attacks. Unable to stop the group, the water genasi of the assassin group tried to make a run for it, to reach Meliria Lucianos before any of The Seraphim could reach her. Though Elio followed quick on his heels, he was unable to close the gap between them. Using his crossbow as a last meassure, Elio managed to push him off balance, letting Meliria take the assassin out with a deadly combination of attacks. The two other members of the genasi assassin group dispersed as Constance and Nathaniel ran after Elio. Though grateful for their help, Meliria quickly finished her business at the mansion, and left by a secret route, and sending The Seraphim back to August II Julianos. When she entered the study of August II, Constance was met by a weird man who introduced himself as Fidenziano who seemed to speak in riddles. She was given her final mission, to find a temple in the Hazurian Mines, marked by a map given to her by August II. Session 07 Before leaving for the Hazurian Mines, Nathaniel met Fidenziano himself. Given dark tidings by the seer, Nathaniel tried to call upon his patron, lady Adrielle. Instead he was met by a man like figure who tried to attack him, though stopped. It weighed heavily on Nathaniel's mind what the seer had said. The group, consisting of Aren, Constance, Nathaniel and Elio, left for the Hazurian Mines. After some hours of travel by horseback, they reached the entrance and started descending into the darkness of the Hazurian Mines, only lit up by their lanterns. Shortly after they entered the mines, they could feel distant tremors, as they got further inside. Just like the had found in the Oneto mansion, they came across a massive temple deep into the ground, though it didn't have the same unnatural feel the other temple had. Entering the temple, they came across several rooms showing either a friendly singular Goddess, or one who worked in unison with a God to help their worshippers. Finding a secret entrance in the back of the largest room, they descended into a hidden altar room filled with images of the Goddess and God fighting each other. The images themselves seemed to change, every single one having their faces turned into one with a creepy looking mask with a massive grin on it. On their way out, for a moment, everything seemed to fell apart, before it somehow corrected itself and the original faces returned to the images in the temple. On their way out, the tremors got close enough to make the main road fall apart, forcing the group into an alternative one. A massive Bulette attacked them, the very same one that had caused the tremors. Severly wounding both Nathaniel and Elio, they finally managed to kill the creature. However, they could feel distant tremors once again, and fled the mines before they could be attacked yet again. Barely able to stay in their saddles, Aren brought the two men back to Feather's Nest while Constance went to meet August II. As Constance turned the last corner to Exarch's Square, a gruesome sight stood before her. Corpses lying all over the Square, and the dark cloaked man with a massive sword in his hand, lit up by six runes on the sword, together with soldiers bearing the Grimwood colours attacking August II and what remained of his guards. The moment Constance was seen by the dark cloaked man, suddenly visions filled her left eye, visions of ancient cities burning. She couldn't move, and the dark cloaked man started closing the distance between himself and Constance. August II killed the last remaining soldiers bearing the Grimwood colours, and forced the dark cloaked man into a duel. After a short intense duel, the dark cloaked man slashed with his sword, and Constance noted that one of the runes stopped glowing. A dark aura was thrown at August II from the sword, and his whole body was paralyzed. The dark cloaked man pierced August II through the throat with his sword, and once again turned on Constance. Though she managed to fight the visions that had filled her eyes, and regained control of her body, it was shortlasted as the man used another rune to paralyze her body aswell. Out of nowhere, Aren pushed Constance aside as she was about to be killed by the dark cloaked man. Forcing the man back several steps, Aren inflicted several wounds upon him, before he used his third rune and tried to paralyze her. Aren dodged to the side, but before she could move, Constance noticed two more runes disappearing from the blade. Aren was lifted up from the ground, and thrown through two statues in the Square, and hit the wall on the other side. Constance felt the energy in her body slowly withering away, as she was paralyzed on the ground. Suddenly she heard the sound of what sounded like wood hitting the paved ground, and she saw Alyniss bending down over Aren with what looked like a ball of frost slowly floating over her right hand. Turning around, Alyniss' hair and pupil slowly turned white, as did the whole Square, as frost settled on it. Using the last rune, the dark cloaked man threw the last remaining dark energy at her. Alyniss used her ball of frost and deflected it to her side. The last thing Constance saw before falling unconcious, was the ball of frost turning into a massive ice spike which Alyniss threw back at the dark cloaked man. Story Arc 02